U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435 discloses an apparatus and method for halving poultry carcasses. Eviscerated poultry carcasses are conducted, in inverted position, through the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435 by means of both a shackle conveyor and a screw-type conveyor. Within the apparatus, each carcass is first delivered to an inclined, rotating cog wheel having an array of teeth formed around the circumference thereof. The cog wheel also has a slot provided therein for receiving a stationary severing blade. The teeth of the cog wheel engage the evisceration vents provided in the poultry carcasses and hold the carcasses in tensioned position such that the stationary blade engages each carcass at the base of the keel and cuts the connecting tissue webs disposed between the breast and thigh portions of the carcass. Following the cutting operation, each carcass is delivered to an inclined, counter-rotating conical auger which engages the enlarged opening formed by the cutting operation and effects a downward bending movement of the forward carcass section about a longitudinal guide rod. This bending operation breaks the carcass backbone into two, separate pieces such that the forward section of the carcass hangs loosely from the rearward carcass section by means of only a ribbon of back skin and meat which remains attached to both the forward and rearward backbone sections.
The entire disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435 is incorporated herein by reference.
As will be understood by those skilled in the art, other apparatuses (e.g., rotating blade apparatuses) have also been used for producing processed poultry carcasses of the type provided by the apparatus and method of U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435. Alternatively, such processed poultry carcasses can be individually produced by hand.
Heretofore, the forward and rearward sections of a "halved" poultry carcass of the type provided by the apparatus and method of U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435 have been separated from each other by simply cutting the ribbon of back skin and meat which extends between the separated backbone sections. The resulting forward carcass section will typically include the keel, the breasts, the wings, and the upper portion of the back. The rearward carcass section will typically include the legs, the thighs, and the lower portion of the back.
Following separation, the forward and rearward carcass sections can be processed, as desired, in separate removal and sectioning operations to produce wings, breasts, thighs, and the like. The rearward carcass section will also commonly be sold in one piece without further removal and sectioning.
Unfortunately, when poultry carcasses are halved and separated in the manner described above, the meat attached to the middle of the forward backbone section typically is not recovered in a desirable manner. Commonly, after the forward section of the poultry carcass is subjected to further sectioning operations, the meat attached to the center of the forward backbone section will simply be rendered along with other by-products of the sectioning process.